OC Supervisor Candidate Criticized for Absences, Travel and Stipends

As a high-stakes race for the Orange County Board of Supervisors enters its final days, Democratic candidate Michele Martinez is drawing flak for meeting absences, lucrative public stipends, and luxury travel on the taxpayers’ dime.

She’s also been collecting $50-per-month payments from the city for short Housing Authority meetings that frequently last for just seconds. And this summer, she and other members of the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) board stayed in high-end hotels in Europe, and received more than $1,000 in stipends during a taxpayer-funded trip to study transportation systems.

“Michele Martinez was busy vacationing in London and Milan – at taxpayers’ expense – instead of addressing Santa Ana’s homeless crisis,” said Do’s chief re-election strategist, John Thomas, in a news release from the campaign this past weekend.

Martinez declined a Voice of OC interview request Wednesday, saying she was “tied up in work meetings all day.”

Late in the day, she emailed a statement that addressed only the European trip criticism. She said that as president of the SCAG board, the trip, which was paid for by the federal government, was valuable because it helped her better understand public transportation systems.

“The trip to Europe was paid for by a federal grant in order to explore ways to reduce traffic in Southern California,” Martinez said in her statement. “Had I not gone, the grant would have likely funded the travel of a non-Orange County representative.”

Martinez did not respond to follow-up requests for an interview.

During the week-long Europe trip, she and other SCAG delegates stayed at London’s Mondrian at Sea Containers hotel, which is promoted as a five-star hotel, and Milan’s four-star NH Collection Milano President Hotel. Delegates’ accommodations were estimated to cost an average of $260 per night per person, with an additional per-diem of $285 per day for each delegate, according to SCAG records reviewed by Voice of OC.

Good government expert Tracy Westen said sometimes there are reasons officials on taxpayer-funded trips stay at a better hotel, such as meetings or a conference taking place there, or less expensive accommodations not being available.

At the same time, he said, “anytime you use taxpayer money, the watchword usually is, be conservative, conserve money. It’s not yours.”

Thomas Gordon, a longtime Santa Ana activist who serves on the Orange County Republican Central Committee, said he’s disappointed.

“I think it’s sad. We’ve got hundreds of people [who are] sleeping outside on the streets of Santa Ana every single night…and Michele Martinez is taking a taxpayer-paid jauntlet over to London and Milan…she’s staying in the best of the best hotel,” Gordon said in an interview.

“Do we know what she even learned?” he asked. “What good does that do to the taxpayer of the city of Santa Ana?”

While Martinez avoided being interviewed, her campaign consultant defended the trip and went on the attack against Do.

“Andrew Do is the poster child for politicians who waste taxpayer money, and his allegations against Michele Martinez are ridiculous and reflect the desperation of his re-election campaign,” said Derek Humphrey. “The trip in question was approved by the [SCAG] regional council, Michele only gets paid for meetings she attends, and Michele has never violated any laws.”

Another issue the Do campaign is focusing on is Martinez’s poor attendance record at meetings of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, where she serves as Santa Ana’s representative.

Martinez joined the water district board in March 2015, and the following month was appointed to three committees, responsible for finance, legislation, and water planning, which has been involved in the drought response.

After attending her first finance committee meeting in May 2015, Martinez has missed every one of the 18 meetings since, according to meeting minutes reviewed by Voice of OC.

This April, she missed both the finance committee and full board meetings where consumer water rates, and the water agency’s budget for the next two years, were approved. She was the only finance committee member to miss the meeting.

Her attendance record on the other two committees was so bad that her fellow board members voted to remove her from them less than a year after she was appointed.

Between May 2015 and her removal in January 2016, Martinez missed seven out of the nine water planning meetings. And though appointed to the board’s communications and legislation committee, records show she never attended any of the nine meetings that were held while she served on it.

Altogether, she has only attended just three of the 37 committee meetings she was assigned to.

And in Santa Ana, Martinez and her City Council colleagues have been accepting $600 per year for monthly meetings of the city’s housing authority that frequently only last for a few seconds.

Because Santa Ana has a public housing authority, it’s required under state law to meet once a month, according to City Clerk Maria Huizar. Those meetings take place during regular council meetings, and are typically routine approvals that last under a minute and involve no discussion.

Last month, for example, council members met for a total of 25 seconds as the Housing Authority.

Despite their short duration, Martinez and the other council members collect $50 for each meeting.

Perhaps the most important housing authority meeting of the year was in March, when the city’s annual public housing plan was up for approval. Martinez was traveling in Washington D.C. and missed the meeting.

Correction: A previous version of this article misstated the amount allotted to members of the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) board for a European trip in July.

Nick Gerda covers county government and Santa Ana for Voice of OC. You can contact him at ngerda@voiceofoc.org.

Join the discussion

BOS Do and the GOP Probe are the real criminals misusing public funds. Nice try.

Good luck Michelle Martinez!! Turn out the vote and break this corrupt GOP stranglehold at the County.

Philmore

Um, perhaps we should backup and return for another view of this outrage ? If, as said, “Oh, well, another (location’s delegate) would have just gone in my place”, well WHERE is the fiduciary duty of, and WHO insures the accountability of, SCAG, for MAKING THESE SPENDING CHOICES with hard earned taxpayer money ? With the internet ubiquitous, WHY does there always seem to be travel budgets, but NEVER seem to be ONLINE conferences for government bodies, when cost-conscious PRIVATE SECTOR multinational companies seem to be just FINE with that method ? Isn’t it LONG PAST TIME for outside independent FINANCIAL AND MANAGEMENT AUDITS of ALL government bodies ? They certainly compensate THEMSELVES as if they were maximizing the efficiency of the taxpayers resources, HOW ABOUT PROVING IT ?

David Zenger

Here’s an idea, Phil. Let’s shut down SCAG completely. Would anybody outside their payroll even notice the difference?

Philmore

Browsing YouTube for CC candidate videos, I tripped across this somewhat relevant “blast from the past”, a meeting sadly I missed-

Every critique being lodged against MIchelle can be said of a majority of electeds in OC. Not condoning it but every single one of the electeds in oc engage in this behavior. All of these educational trips can be equally as effective if they just video taped the information and sites visited for demonstration.

John Earl

That is incorrect. Not all are missing so many meetings. At water boards, some are often late and or early and collect full stipends.

David Zenger

Nice touch.

Here’s a idea for a State law: arrive on time and leave at adjournment. Otherwise no dinero.

Paul Lucas

Oh come on man??!! Who can support something so radical and earth shattering as that? ;o)

Thomas Anthony Gordon

“Michele only gets paid for meetings she attends” said her campaign consultant Derek Humphrey.

That is completely untrue.

“Per an excerpt from the Council Handbook regarding Council compensation. Please note that the monthly salary is provided for unless a member has unexcused absences during that calendar month.”
Council Members ALWAYS excuse the absences of other members out of courtesy so that all members receive full compensation regardless of attendance.
Getting paid to not attend council meetings-$125.00

Getting paid to not attend council meetings while waking up in $260 a night rooms in London & Milan paid for by taxpayers-PRICELESS

David Zenger

“The trip to Europe was paid for by a federal grant in order to explore ways to reduce traffic in Southern California,” Martinez said in her statement.

Ahhahaha. Comedy program, is it?

It’s telling that even after such a lousy attendance record her colleagues on the council keep her on MWD – which is their way blowing a nice, wet raspberry at the ratepayers of MWD water in Santa Ana.